Matlock star David Del Rio was fired from the CBS show after his co-star accused him of s*xual assault. His wife, Katherine Del Rio, blasted the accuser on her Instagram stories (via Page Six). She later took her stories down. As per TMZ, the incident occurred on September 26 on Paramount property, where the filming of the series took place.
The allegations were reported last week, following which Del Rio was escorted off the set on October 2. It was reported that his accuser was co-star Leah Lewis. After Del Rio’s exit, Lewis took to social media to post a photo of her mother in her stories.
The Nancy Drew actress seemingly made her first response since the incident in the caption, where she thanked those who supported and cared for her. She shared (via Page Six):
Mom is here, we’re moving forward in love and strength. I’m in good hands. Thank you to everybody for any kind of support and care. Truly, we’re moving forward in strength. Key word, strength. Please, let that be the take away.
Katherine Del Rio shared a close-up picture of Lewis on her story, with the caption, “This is the most disturbing human being I have ever met.” In another story, she mocked Lewis’s Instagram message after Del Rio’s exit. She posted a picture of her mother and wrote:
Mom is here. We are moving forward in love and strength after what Leah did to our family. Thank you all for the love and support!
She has since deleted both stories from her feed. She and Del Rio share two daughters, Lilia and Coco. Del Rio has yet to make a statement on the allegations.
Leah Lewis: Where You’ve Seen Her Before
Leah Lewis was born in Shanghai, China. The 28-year-old actress was adopted by her parents, Fred and Lorraine, when she was just six months old. She was raised in Windermere, Florida. Her younger sister Lydia was also adopted from the same orphanage in China.
She rose to popularity with her performance as the lesbian teen, Ellie Chu, in the 2020 Netflix film, The Half of It. Before that, she was part of the CW series version of Nancy Drew, where she played Georgia ‘George’ Fan. She voiced the role of Ember in Pixar’s animated film, Elemental. She also voiced Räv in the Paramount animated film The Tiger’s Apprentice.
Besides acting, Lewis also sings and plays guitar. She has been writing songs since the age of 15. She auditioned for the fourth season of The Voice. She sang Carrie Underwood’s Blown Away, but didn’t progress to further rounds. She also has an interest in photography.
She was previously dating actor Payson Lewis. They began their relationship in 2016 and lasted until 2023, when they broke things off (via Soap Central). Lewis featured in Payson’s music video Back in Time, which was shot in 2021 but was released after their break-up in 2023.
David Del Rio Will Be Written Off Matlock Season 2
Leah Lewis played attorney Sarah Franklin, while David Del Rio played Billy Martinez in Matlock. Both of their characters played first-year associates at the firm Jacobson Moore in the first season. Del Rio has already completed filming the first half of the show. According to Page Six, his character is being immediately written out of the show.
The show is all set to premiere its second season on October 12, 2025. Notably, the filming is currently on hiatus until November, when the cast would film the second half of this season. Matlock features Kathy Bates, Skye P. Marshall, and Jason Ritter in the main cast alongside Lewis and Del Rio.
None of these stars have spoken about the incident. The show is a legal drama, which draws some of its central premise from Andy Griffith’s 1986 show of the same name. The first season received overwhelmingly positive reviews, prompting the network to greenlight a second season.
It has to be seen how this scandal would affect the show in the coming days. What are your thoughts on the allegations? Let us know in the comments below!
Matlock episodes are now available for streaming on Paramount+.
